You gotta give it to veteran producer and former Big Black/current Shellac frontman Steve Albini-- dude is indie as fuck. So indie, in fact, that he recently told GQ that he considers Sonic Youth a "bad influence" (!) for signing with major label Geffen in 1990, a choice Abini thinks they "should be embarrassed about." (Sonic Youth broke ties with Geffen around 2008 and their latest LP, The Eternal, came out on indie Matador.)

It seems relevant to note that two of Albini's most notable engineering credits are Nirvana's In Utero and PJ Harvey's Rid of Me-- both of which came out on major labels. Perhaps he never cashed those checks?

(a) he's an engineer, he records bands and that's it. he makes no endorsements of the bands he records. it is his job.
(b) he takes on major label bands because he can bleed the labels dry and use the money to give indie bands a great deal.

I'm not defending what he's saying here but trotting out a list of shitty records he's worked on as if he's put his stamp of approval on the bands by working with them is bs.

whereas Sonic Youth, on the other hand, signed to Geffen because they wanted to make the company loads of money? and they didn't use major label funds/influence to help other underground bands in a similar way? give me a break.

it doesn't matter if he was the engineer or if he was making the tea, if he's so opposed to the mainstream or if he finds it so embarrassing he shouldn't have gone near any of those albums.

"Participating in the mainstream music business is, to me, like getting involved in a racket. There's no way you can get involved in a racket and not someway be filthied by it. You're another catalog item, another name on the list of people who are collaborating with the enemy."

'I hope GQ as a magazine fails. I hope that all of these people who make a living by looking pretty are eventually made destitute or forced to do something of substance. At least pornography has a function.'

I seem to remember reading a story about SY wrapping him up in duct tape and throwing him around the stage when supporting them with Rapeman for playing Kim Gordon's Panties, but perhaps I've just imagined that entirely

i'm not saying albini is god, but just because not every album he's been involved with before is stunning it doesn't mean he has no credibility, sure he's recorded some guff but the bands must take responsibility once in a while. it probably wasn't particularly shocking that the stooges album about 40 years after their first one wasn't up to much, anyway. and yeah the records he produces have a similar sound to them, there are so many other factors such as production, mastering and the bands performance (and equipment/tone etc...) that can make albini's input rather irrelavent to a degree

As an amazing end note, GQ threw some prime red meat in the famously t-shirt-and-jeans-wearing producer's direction with the question "How would you describe your fashion?" His answer lived up: "I think fashion is repulsive. The whole idea that someone else can make clothing that is supposed to be in style and make other people look good is ridiculous. It sickens me to think that there is an industry that plays to the low self-esteem of the general public. I would like the fashion industry to collapse. I think it plays to the most superficial, most insecure parts of human nature. I hope GQ as a magazine fails. I hope that all of these people who make a living by looking pretty are eventually made destitute or forced to do something of substance. At least pornography has a function."

STEVE ALBINI ON THE FUTURE OF MUSIC, FUNNY CATS AND THE DEATH OF FASHION
Last month, Shellac made an ultra-rare festival appearance at the Jim Jarmusch-curated All Tomorrow's Parties festival in New York, and GQ caught up with the band's frontman, Steve Albini. If awards were given out to interviewees, Albini would win one for this.

In the interview, the musician and studio engineer discusses why Shellac hate playing festivals so much, why Sonic Youth "cheapened music quite a bit" when they signed to a major label "in order to become a modestly successful mainstream band - as opposed to being a quite successful independent band", why now is "a terrific time to be in a band", funny cat videos on YouTube, the future of radio, the power of the internet for musicians, John Peel's work ethic, and more. Basically, he said quite a lot.

But GQ is a fashion magazine, so eventually talk turned to that subject. Though it turns out Albini isn't much of a fan of either fashion or GQ.

He told the magazine: "I think fashion is repulsive. The whole idea that someone else can make clothing that is supposed to be in style and make other people look good is ridiculous. It sickens me to think that there is an industry that plays to the low self-esteem of the general public. I would like the fashion industry to collapse. I think it plays to the most superficial, most insecure parts of human nature. I hope GQ as a magazine fails. I hope that all of these people who make a living by looking pretty are eventually made destitute or forced to do something of substance. At least pornography has a function".

were mostly on the money and how i'd probably feel if i was him give or take.. but the sexism and misogyny on there was really quite something for a suppsedly intelligent grown man and respected arist. he sounds like Jay off The Inbetweeners or something the minute you get him off the subject of music production.

'come back and criticise when you're in a band and have made records' is the lamest argument in the world.

secondly, if some anonymous poster came on here and said what Albini's after saying there they'd be absolutely crucified by the whole forum, including the people sticking up for Albini in this thread. if anything, the fact he's famous and has made the music he has means he's more likely *not* to be called out on talking shite like this.

they are the ones that reported the story with the headline 'Steve Albini Goes Off on Sonic Youth' when in fact it was just one part of the interview with GQ and Steve Albini even says he counts them as friends.

Or in Steve Albini's own words

"In the GQ thing and in the lazier media rehashes it comes across like I just want to shit on Sonic Youth and while I can't apologize for the legitimate sentiments in the article, I feel bad about the way it has been framed by opportunistic new media douchebags with an agenda and a lust for controversy."

every media publication on earth will take certain parts of interviews and publicise them. he knows that himself. i don't think Pitchfork are doing anything wrong by highlighting a few douchey comments that would sound retarded on a message board, let alone coming from a grown man

I just object to the extra level of mean-spirited malicious trolling here. The way they pretty much created the Wavves 'meltdown' at Primavera tells you all you need to know about those eejits. They're more interested in bullshit and winding people up.

pymm wrote:I have never read an issue, or even an article for that matter, from GQ... but I thought the interviewer's questioning was quite good and not pandering or ignorant... The initial framing of the interview reeked though.

What sucks is the way the whole thing is being played/replayed by yet lazier media as though I'm all about shitting on Sonic Youth. I actually quite like Sonic Youth as people, have seen them maybe 40 times and count a solid half-dozen of those shows as truly phenomenal music experiences. Shellac is playing a show with them on New Years' Eve in London, and I expect it to be great.

I'll admit I have some beef with the way they spearheaded the corporatization of a certain sector of the music scene and apologized for mainstream culture in the 90s. I guess some of it was in the guise of irony, but I don't think that matters as it may be less true than would be convenient.

Whatever, that's all common knowledge. This writer is somehow in the camp of Chumbawumba, is doing a book about them and all that, and I guess he has an angle that selling out is actually good... Don't really get it, but he was needling me about Sonic Youth, and made much too much of that whole deal. I probably shouldn't have risen to the bait, but in the context of the conversation I thought I put it in perspective.

In the GQ thing and in the lazier media rehashes it comes across like I just want to shit on Sonic Youth and while I can't apologize for the legitimate sentiments in the article, I feel bad about the way it has been framed by opportunistic new media douchebags with an agenda and a lust for controversy.

...he had to call the re-using but not fact-checking article of another piece bullshit something.

Still, I don't think he has any grounds to complain. He said it. End of. What did he expect? OK it's not like that was HIS sole focus, but he wasn't misquoted and he fairly believes what he said. Is his problem that they took an ANGLE? How fucking dare they put that and then not write about every single other thing that he said. What planet is he on? People will write about the stuff that is the most interesting and in this case it's you talking about Sonic Youth...